


love and blood (both are red)

by Liliace



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/F, Friendship, Getting Together, M/M, POV Pepper Potts, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, Pepper is a responsible adult, They manage anyway, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony less so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 20:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5553665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liliace/pseuds/Liliace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Pepper likes a certain redhead and Tony tries to help. Or, rather, in which Pepper gets together with Natasha and observes the progress of Tony's crush.</p>
            </blockquote>





	love and blood (both are red)

**Author's Note:**

> I appear to be posting new stories every day. What is up with me? Also, random title is random, but I can't come up with a better one (suggestions are welcome).
> 
> Anyway, I wanted to write a Pepper/Natasha fic, but I am literally incapable of writing anything (Avengers related) without Tony in it. This is my solution. Hope you enjoy!

Tony was the first to notice that something was different. Now, to be fair to everyone else's observational skills, that was because Pepper made it so easy for him.

"So how are you and the Avengers getting along?" Pepper asked one day as she was waiting for Tony to sign papers.

Tony looked up at her and shrugged. "As well as can be expected."

"And you and the Captain?" she continued, lifting an eyebrow.

This time, Tony offered a sheepish grin. "We're getting there. He's actually not that bad."

"Mmm," Pepper hummed thoughtfully. "So he's the reason you're more emotionally stable nowadays."

"No," Tony denied, though his tone lacked conviction. "I'm just finally learning to live without your shining presence."

Pepper laughed, throwing Tony a knowing look. "Of course."

"Why are you asking about these things anyway?" Tony asked, grumbling.

It was an obvious distraction and for a moment, Pepper hesitated. She rather wanted to pursue their topic of conversation for more details, but she also knew that Tony clamped up harder than a teenager questioned about their crush if pushed too much.

So she made the logical choice and went back to her original line of questioning.

"What about Agent Romanoff then? How are you getting along with her?" Pepper asked, tone slightly hesitant but not enough so for Tony to notice.

"Fine, just fine," Tony said.

Pepper sighed. "Are you still upset because she lied to you – to us?"

"No," Tony said, narrowing his eyes at Pepper.

She winced. Clearly he was slowly realizing that her questions were rather unusual.

"Why do you care anyway?" Tony asked. "It's not like you see her around."

"Because she's your teammate and it's important that you can count on her to have your back," Pepper answered promptly. "And because… Well, we did become friends during her time at SI, and she asked me out for coffee again."

Tony stopped, then tilted his head, then tapped his finger against his goatee, and finally quirked a smile. "I'm fine with her," he said. "I get why she did what she did, and it's not like it's any of my business who you spend time with anyway."

"No, it's not," Pepper said. "But I don't want to – I mean, if you were still suspicious of her… You're my best friend, Tony, and I wouldn't want to hurt you."

Tony blinked, and then smiled widely at her. "Well then, you have my blessings."

Pepper frowned at him, wondering how much he understood and how much was just joking. Regardless, she then smiled back at him and let him finish the rest of the paperwork in silence.

***

"Any progress with the Captain?" Pepper murmured, leaning against the counter behind her as she sipped her drink.

Tony startled, turning to stare at her instead of the people occupying the dance floor.

"Progress?" he asked suspiciously.

"Yes," Pepper confirmed, never turning her eyes away from the mass of people as she smiled politely at whoever she happened to make eye contact with. "You know, in getting along better?"

Tony let out a breath and let his eyes wander across the room again. "Some. I think we're finally sort of, maybe, possibly, starting to understand the other. At least he's not staring at me like I'm some intricate puzzle anymore."

Pepper felt her lips twitch into an honest smile. "Good to hear that."

"What about you, then?" Tony asked. "How are you doing with Natashalie?"

Pepper glanced at him from the corner of her eye and again wondered just how much he knew, and how much was her own paranoia.

"Fine," she answered. "Natasha has expressed her regret at tricking me."

Tony lifted eyebrows. "And when you say 'expressed her regret'," he drawled, "do you mean she said sorry, or that she sent the body of someone you hate to your doorstep?"

Pepper laughed softly. "Neither."

Despite the side glances Tony kept shooting her, she didn't elaborate on it, and instead kept smiling slightly crookedly.

"It's something really embarrassing, isn't it," Tony stated rather than asked, eyeing her curiously. "The last time I saw you blush like that was when I gave you… those… Oh my god!"

Pepper tensed, determinedly not looking at him while Tony was examining her like she held all the secrets to the universe. That at least answered the question whether Tony had suspected before; clearly his previous comments had been jokes only.

"You like her," Tony whispered then, his tone incredulous and, to Pepper's relief, amused.

"Of course I do," Pepper said, not willing to admit defeat quite yet. "She's a very pleasant person."

"Oh my god," Tony said again. "This is – Wow, okay, I did not see that one coming."

Pepper remained silent, observing the other people at the gala while Tony tried to get his thoughts into order.

"But," Tony started hesitantly, and Pepper wondered if he'd be upset with her after all, "I thought Natasha and Clint were…" he trailed off, shooting Pepper a worried look.

Pepper gave a small smile, glad that Tony was only worried for her. "They're not. Natasha said that they're just close friends."

"Oh, well, good then," Tony said. He was silent for a moment before continuing. "So are you two together, or..?"

"No," Pepper answered. "I don't know – I haven't – I don't know how she, well, how she sees me."

Tony hummed thoughtfully. "I could try to find out for you."

Pepper would have whiplashed to stare at him if she had any less control. "No, no that's not necessary," she hurriedly said instead. "Really, you don't need to do that."

Tony pouted at her. "You don't think I'm subtle enough."

"Well, yes," Pepper said frankly. "But I also don't think anyone would be subtle enough for her."

"True," Tony admitted.

Neither of them said anything more on the subject, and Pepper brought her mind back into the present. She had to focus on the possible clients and business partners for now.

***

"Please don't kill me," Tony started the conversation with, and that was never a good sign, "but I did some discreet poking."

Since it was a phone call and Pepper couldn't stare at him suspiciously, she laced her voice with all her exasperation instead. "Tony, what did you do?"

She hoped he didn't mean poking at the politicians again, or Fury. Worse, he might mean literal poking at Doctor Banner/Hulk, which was something she didn't even want to think about.

"I talked with Clint," Tony said, and suddenly Pepper realized what this all was about. "He said that Natasha's been more cheerful since she started hanging out with you again."

Pepper sighed. "Thank you, Tony, but please don't do it again. And even so – that doesn't necessarily mean anything."

Tony made a sound of protest. "It means she likes spending time with you! That's a start, isn't it?"

"She wouldn't spend time with me if she hated it," Pepper said, and smiled a bit when Tony didn't have anything to say to that.

"But it also means that she really likes you," Tony said finally.

Pepper smiled ruefully. "But doesn't tell us – me – in what way she likes me."

"I could ask –," Tony started to say before Pepper interrupted him with a strict 'no'.

"I appreciate your efforts, I really do, but this is between me and Natasha. I'd like to think we're capable enough to handle the situation ourselves," Pepper said, softening her tone.

Tony sighed. "Yeah, sure. But that means you have to talk to her."

"I know," Pepper said. "And I'm going to – at some point. Please don't do anything that would force me into that position."

"I won't, I won't," Tony grumbled. "I'll stay out of it from now on."

"Thank you," Pepper said, the words very much heartfelt. "Now, how about you tell me how you and the Captain are doing?"

"That's quite a jump between subjects," Tony joked, and Pepper wanted to laugh at his continuous attempts at denial. "But fine, we're fine."

"And if I'd ask you do describe it by some other word?" Pepper teased.

"Uh, well… Progressing?" Tony said hesitantly. "I think he's actually starting to like me, which is surprising. And we even had a chat about Howard – well, I told him how bad of a father he was and Steve offered some stories from before he became an asshole."

"That's good," Pepper said, smiling at nothing. "Keep working at it and you'll get past your differences in no time."

"I'm not 'working on it'," Tony denied. "Why would I be, I don't care about him or his opinion. It's just… happening anyway."

Pepper laughed. "Does being a genius require lying to yourself?" she teased, and laughed even more at Tony's indignant noise before he disconnected the call.

***

"Okay, so, first of all, she's fine," Tony said when Pepper picked up, and Pepper's heart jumped to her throat. "Seriously, totally gonna recover completely and stuff, so you don't –"

That was as far as he got before Pepper interrupted him. "Tony, what happened?" she asked hurriedly, already making her way towards the roof of the building.

"There were these bots, and a few of them got to her – I don't know the details, I was too far away, I couldn't help I'm sorry, when I noticed it was too late and –," Tony started to ramble, tone regretful and apologetic and Pepper felt a twinge of sympathy towards him as well.

"It's okay, Tony, it wasn't your fault," she said. "But what's her condition?"

Tony took a deep breath and appeared to calm down from it. "She's passed out. Got a couple of cracked ribs and a concussion, so the doctors are keeping her at med bay. They keep waking her up every couple of hours so she's obviously not in a coma or anything more serious, but she's not gonna make it to her date with you tomorrow."

Pepper would have laughed in relief if she wasn't still so tense. "It's not a date, and I don't care about that. Wait, is that the only reason you're even telling me about this? That's not fair, you know I care about her and would want to know –"

This time it was Tony doing the interrupting. "I know, okay? I know that. I was gonna tell you anyway – and you should appreciate that since Natasha would probably have killed me for it – but Clint okayed it because of her missing the date."

"Oh," Pepper breathed. "Sorry. I'm just – How far away are you?"

"Should take just a minute," Tony said. "I'm driving the Quinjet because I assume you wouldn't want to get all windblown."

"Very considerate of you," Pepper said, and felt a small smile slipping through. "And be sure to apologise to Fury for borrowing a SHIELD vehicle without permission."

Tony made an affronted noise. "How do you know I didn't ask for permission? I so could have. And anyway, with all the free tech I keep providing SHIELD with, they shouldn't complain if I use some of theirs."

"You know they wouldn't kick you off the team even if you'd stop giving them all that 'free tech'," Pepper said gently. "But, that is also true."

"Of course I know," Tony said, voice and words sure yet still failing to convince Pepper. "Anyway, I'm landing in ten seconds."

"How did you even manage to steal the Quinjet?" Pepper asked curiously as she watched said vehicle land on the building's helipad.

Tony hummed. "Steve may have helped by providing a distraction."

Pepper smiled, even as her whole body thrummed with tension as she made her way inside the Quinjet. "I'm glad that you two are getting along so well now."

"Yeah yeah," Tony said. "Now buckle up, we're taking off."

***

"So, good news," Pepper told Tony when she visited him in the Tower. "Natasha promised not to kill you for telling me about her being hurt."

Tony blinked and then grinned. "Okay, good to know. Anyway, it wouldn't have been my fault, Clint was the one who said it was okay – and yeah I would have done it anyway, but this time, it clearly was completely Clint's fault."

"Of course," Pepper smiled indulgently. She waited until Tony had turned his attention back to the tablet in his hands before dropping the bomb. "I also asked her out."

Tony whiplashed to stare at her. "And by 'ask her out' you mean 'ask her out', right? You did? Okay, awesome, what did she say? No wait, based on your happy expression she obviously said yes, am I right?"

"Yes," Pepper said. "I asked her out on a date and she said yes."

Tony jumped up from the couch and pulled her into a hug. "That's brilliant! Where are you going to take her? Dinner? How about that new Italian restaurant right around the corner? Or maybe she'd prefer something less extravagant? But maybe you should take her to movies instead. Or not movies, that's boring – does she like opera? You like opera, right? What about a musical, or ballet, or something?"

Pepper waited for Tony to run out of things to say, all the while feeling her happiness amplify by the obvious joy Tony was portraying on her behalf.

Sometimes she wondered why she bothered, why she didn't find new friends – especially a best friend that wouldn't forget about her birthday – and why she didn't just leave Tony to his own devices. But on times like these, she knew that while Tony might not be the best best friend there was, he was hers and that was enough for her.

"We agreed on dinner and a ballet – apparently she used to dance herself, and though I got the feeling that it didn't hold all the best memories for her, she still likes the art," Pepper said when Tony had finally quieted.

"Okay, great, but where are you taking her out to eat? You can't just randomly pick a place," Tony asked, still bouncing around the room as if he had too much energy to stay still.

"That's the plan, actually," Pepper grinned teasingly. "We're going to walk around and pick whatever place we fancy at that time."

"Oh," Tony stopped short, blinking at her. "But I thought you always wanted – Well, never mind."

Pepper stepped closer to him and took his hands in hers, softening her smile. "It's not that I ever wanted everything to be planned out to the smallest detail. I just wanted you to have some sort of a plan, not make me feel like I was an afterthought."

Tony looked down and their clasped hands and sighed. "I know, and I'm sorry. I did – I do – care about you, but I just…"

"I know," Pepper said. "And I care about you too. But that's part of why we didn't work out."

Tony nodded and freed himself from her hold, walking back to the couch and throwing himself on it. "But you have the patience of a saint. How am I ever going to – aww, to hell with it, like you don't know anyway – how can I even hope to have something with Steve?"

Pepper sat next him on the couch, and smiled. "Maybe we didn't work out because I have the patience of a saint. You need someone to oppose you, argue with you, stand up to you – and yes, I did do those things, but I also let you get away with far too much. I think Steve might be near perfect for you."

Tony was silent for a while. "Okay, that actually makes sense," he said then, before groaning. "But how do I even know if he likes me back."

"Of course he does," Pepper rolled her eyes. When Tony went to protest, she added, "Natasha thinks so too, and she's rarely wrong."

"You gossip about me and Steve?" Tony gaped at her. "Wait, why am I even surprised? Of course you do."

Pepper laughed and leaned against him, smiling happily when Tony put his arm around her shoulders.

***

"No," Pepper and Natasha said in unison.

"But why?" Tony whined, pouting at them.

Pepper and Natasha traded a glance.

"Because we don't want to put up with you two on the rare occasion that we get some downtime," Natasha explained bluntly.

"That's just rude, Romanoff," Steve said, lifting both his eyebrows and grinning almost unnoticeably.

"I know right," Tony nodded enthusiastically. "Their cruel words leave wounds all over my body."

"And I suppose you need someone to kiss them better?" Pepper asked knowingly, laughing when Tony turned mock-innocent eyes to her.

"What ever might you be suggesting, my dear Pepper?" he asked, widening his eyes.

"That you and your boyfriend go do big boy things and leave us alone," Natasha smirked.

"Well…" Tony glanced at Steve, abandoning the innocent act and grinning lasciviously at him.

"I suppose if you're so opposed to the whole double-date idea," Steve said mock-thoughtfully, "we'll just have to find some other way to entertain ourselves."

"Sounds like a plan," Tony quipped, but then turned back to the two women. "And you, don't think you'll get out of it so easily."

Pepper rolled her eyes while Natasha lifted her eyebrows, and Pepper had to say that if she didn't know Natasha liked her and Tony, she'd be worried for Tony's safety.

"Anyway, you two," Steve interrupted, "have a great evening, we'll just be going then."

"Oh, we will," Natasha grinned, and Pepper felt a shiver – of the good kind – flowing down her spine.

She watched Steve and Tony leave, bickering all the while. It was odd how they could be so different yet so similar and fit together so well. Then again, she supposed that she and Natasha fell into that same category as well.

"Mad Max Fury Road?" Natasha asked, turning to look at Pepper.

Pepper nodded, following her to the living room. Truth be told, a double-date didn't sound as awful as she pretended – but for now, she wanted to enjoy some alone time with her girlfriend.


End file.
